The Organization

The Alliance of Bioversity International delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crisis of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. The Alliance works with local, national and multinational partners across Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and with the public and private sectors. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services.

The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT is implementing the project Accelerated Variety Turnover for Open-pollinated Crops (ACCELERATE). This is a four-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and jointly implemented by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT/Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) as the lead institution in collaboration with the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). The overall aim of the project is to develop a scalable model to accelerate new variety adoption of open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) in Tanzania by linking existing capacities of the formal and quality-declared seed (QDS) sectors with sources of demand. ACCELERATE is expected to generate lessons about accelerating varietal turnover in Tanzania by tapping into the power of large/small-scale or marketplace traders, and institutional seed buyers. It emphasizes sources of demand-pull as the impetus for seed systems growth.

ACCELERATE  is focused on testing different modalities for enhancing communication and coordination between smallholder grain producers, retail grain traders, large-scale traders, and researchers to improve the flow of information, market access, and agricultural practices. To support this effort, a series of efforts will be tested through a network of WhatsApp groups/channels between different actors. The consultant will play a key role in coordinating these digital design activities, ensuring the establishment of WhatsApp groups/channels, implementing and evaluating modalities for timely information sharing, and fostering collaborative relationships among participants.

About the Consultancy

Advancements in ICT and social media are creating new opportunities to connect stakeholders and facilitate information exchange. For instance, a platform such as WhatsApp, in particular, enables communication among individuals and groups with shared interests, fostering collaboration and interaction between actors aligned by common goals. A digital platform is expected to bring together retail, large traders and researchers who will be exchanging information on new varieties and market trends. The consultant will test different modalities to ensure the efficient exchange of crucial information, including updates on grain varieties, market trends, research findings related to market-demanded varieties, and advisory services regarding seed and grain access.

The goal of digital platforms helps to facilitate efficient, real-time communication and collaboration between grain traders and researchers, enabling the timely exchange of market information, agricultural best practices, research insights, and advisory services. This platform aims to strengthen linkages, enhance decision-making, reduce risks, and ultimately improve productivity and market access for all stakeholders involved in the grain value chain.

Deliverables
Planning

·   Deliverables:

· Plan describing (1) digital platform setup and management, and (2) monitoring engagement metrics.

· Digital platform setup

·   Deadline: 2 months from the start of the consultancy, 30% of the consultancy fee

Deliverable: Weekly report
Description: Facilitate the connection between retail grain traders, large traders, researchers, input providers and other value chain actors through the multistakeholder platforms. Document and track engagement metrics, including member participation, messages exchanged, the frequency of information shared between different stakeholders. Analyze in detail the exchanges related to seeds of new crop varieties. Submit a summary report on key discussions and engagements between stakeholders, outlining areas of collaboration and key insights.
Oversee the development and implementation of platform use cases and promotion campaigns for higher variety turn over. Work with other team members to develop strategies for efficient feedback loop mechanisms in the multistakeholder platforms (MSP) for sorghum, groundnuts and common bean value chains.
Deadline: 3^rd month from the start of the consultancy, 30% of the consultancy.

Link traders with private digital service providers for digital support and testing digital solutions that accelerate varietal turnover of beans, sorghum and common beans:

Deliverable: Intermediate report

·  Oversee the uptake of digital apps by the service providers to enhance business operations including sharing information about varieties with the farmers

·  Provide technical support to traders on the importance of digitizing their operations and profiling last mile farmers for efficient aggregation work

·   If needed in collaboration with the private digital service provider, coordinate the development or adaptation of the existing Web and Mobile based applications, and others) to meet the needs of traders, aggregators, processors as a way of digitalizing value chains.

·   Coordinate testing of the above-described digital solutions with value chain actors and digital service providers

Deadline: 2^nd month from the start of the consultancy, 20% of the consultancy

Final Report and Handover:
Deliverable: Final report and complete documentation
Description: Summarize all project activities, findings, and outcomes in a final report. Provide complete documentation of developed solutions and SOPs. Conduct a training session with TARI to continue managing the platform
Deadline: End of the consultancy terms, 20% of the consultancy fee

Requirements